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Monaco vs Nice and St Etienne vs Marseilles have been called off

Last Updated: 06/12/18 12:43pm

Thierry Henry's Monaco will not be in action this weekend

Anti-government protests in France are having a major impact on this weekend's Ligue 1 schedule.

Monaco's derby clash with Nice on Friday night and St Etienne's match with Marseilles on Sunday have now been called off, following the earlier postponements of Toulouse-Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain-Montpellier.

Recent demonstrations against fuel tax rises and other grievances have resulted in rioting, looting and hundreds of injuries.

France's government is deploying extra security around the country amid threats of new protests on Saturday.

The decision to call off Monaco's Riviera derby with Nice came "at the request of the princely government of the Principality of Monaco and in connection with the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes" according to a league statement on Twitter.

The game would have been the first between former Arsenal team-mates Thierry Henry, now in charge at Monaco, and Patrick Vieira, who took over as Nice boss in the summer.

Patrick Vieira (L) and Henry were scheduled to meet for the first time in their managerial career

Henry's side have struggled since he took over as manager in October, although they have won two of their last three Ligue 1 games to climb to 18th place and catch the group of teams above them.